Titans playoff hopes fading after loss to Elmira

Sunday, March 17, 2013

By MIKE ASHMOREFor The Trentonian

TRENTON — In a different world, perhaps, two points could have belonged to the Titans on Sunday afternoon.

But the reality is they didn’t. And Elmira’s 6-3 win over Trenton in front of an announced crowd of 3,953 at the Sun National Bank Center pushed the Titans to the brink of being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Just don’t mention that to head coach Vince Williams, who was as visibly frustrated after the game as he has been all season.

“We still (have to) coach and we still teach. There’s a lot to play for, and if you’ve ever played the game, you would know that. There’s a lot to play for,” he said.

“Take your pick; integrity, pride, jobs for next year, potential call-ups. But until we’re mathematically eliminated, then we’ll talk about stuff like that. But we’re not. Until that happens, then we’ll talk about that.”

So let’s focus on something else, shall we? Five of the six Jackals goals came from players who, conceivably, could have been wearing a Titans sweater. Andrew Rowe tallied the first two Elmira goals of the evening just 2:31 apart in the first period after Trenton’s Andrew Johnston had put the Jackals in a 1-0 hole.

Rowe, a former Flyers prospect, likely would have been playing for the Titans this season had Philadelphia re-signed him. But now on an ECHL-only deal — much like how things unfolded for Trenton captain Andy Bohmbach between last year and this year — Rowe was free to sign with whomever he chose, and will likely be participating in the Kelly Cup Playoffs this season, barring a Jackals meltdown.

Jordan Pietrus will join him, although his circumstances are a little different when it comes to Trenton. Pietrus was an original member of the re-birth of the Titans, but lasted just six games before being released outright on November 9, 2011 in order to, ironically enough, make room for Bohmbach. He tallied just one point in his brief stay with Trenton, but potted the Jackals’ fourth and fifth goals on the night after Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel snapped a shot over Titans goalie Cal Heeter’s glove from the left circle early in the second period. Pietrus has now posted 89 points in 114 games for the Jackals, production that Trenton surely could have used on Sunday.

Instead, things simply got away from them once again, a reminder that a late-season run doesn’t erase a season full of disappointment that ends with missing the playoffs once again.

“Everything that they got, we gave them,” said Williams about the game’s result.

“Turnovers, a couple plays that just were not very smart plays. That’s what happens when you don’t make hard plays against a team that plays hard.”

While Williams stressed that the focus now turns to Wednesday’s trip to Elmira, in which a loss would ensure the Trenton hockey franchise misses the postseason for a whopping fourth straight season, some players have accepted the fact that their year -- and for many of them, their time with the Titans -- will end in two weeks.

“I mean, it’s frustrating, but at the same time you have to go in and have an open mind,” said Trenton forward Stephen Schultz, who scored his 27th goal of the season.

“We just have to go out and play. For some guys, it’s an opportunity. There’s always people watching. We want to go out, we want to play, we want to win. That’s the mentality of any athlete out there, if you ask them if they like losing, everyone’s going to say no. We have a good group of guys in there, and I think if we get our things together and we finish the season strong, it’ll be fun for us. And it’ll put everyone on the map, everyone gets looked at around here. So we might as well had go out there, have fun, play hard and play for each other.”

Rob Bellamy, another former Flyers farmhand, scored an empty-net goal with just 1:37 left to play to seal the victory for Elmira.